Finding hope in a chaotic world…

Got Blueberries?

Atlantic County in South Jersey is the place to be if you love blueberries. These little blue dynamos, sometimes called bleuets (French), thrive here.

Atlantic County has just the right balance of sandy soil and organic matter (“berryland soils”) that highbush blueberries love, and this county is the largest producer in the state with over 42 million pounds of blueberries harvested from 6,100 acres. In comparison, the next highest producer, Burlington County, harvests 5,300 pounds or more annually from 1,000 acres.

The Atlantic Blueberry Farm, Mays Landing, NJ

Hammonton, NJ, a town in Atlantic County with a population of 12,840, located between Atlantic City and Philadelphia just off the Atlantic City Expressway, claims to be the Blueberry Capital of the World. To celebrate their claim to fame, Hammonton holds a Red, White, and Blueberry Festival every year on the Sunday before July 4th. This event comes complete with blueberry pie-eating contests, baking contests, carnival games for the kids, a craft show, music, antique cars, a stage show, and plenty of food to eat. You can buy blueberries by the pint or the case, or you can just buy a blueberry pie or a jar of blueberry jam.

This year’s festival was held last Sunday, July 1, just one day after a terrible freak thunder and wind storm called a derecho hit neighboring towns. Hammonton had thunderstorms but with none of the damage that hit other Atlantic County cities. Read more about that derecho here. Because of high winds, nearby Mays Landing lost much of its current blueberry crop just mid-way through the season.

If Hammonton’s auspicious claim to be the Blueberry Capital of the World is not enough, some New Jerseyites have made another chest-thumping, back-slapping assertion. Vicki Hyman of Newark’s Star-Ledger wrote about our beloved blueberry in “How New Jersey saved civilization by taming blueberries.” You can read that story here.

Do you think we Jerseyites make exaggerated claims about blueberries? Think again.

We grow blueberries that are bigger than a penny! Here’s the proof.

New Jersey blueberries are big!

Historically, lowbush blueberries grew wild in the South Jersey Pinelands, but these berries were small and tart. Native Americans in the area used them for relieving stomach problems and other ailments. We now know that these berries, loaded with vitamins and antioxidants, protect against cancer and heart disease. Blueberries lovers also claim that these blue wonders are like the proverbial fountain of youth. Eat them, and you will have better eyesight and better skin, all the while delaying old age. How’s that for fanfaronade?

In the early 1900s, Elizabeth Coleman White (1871-1954), a cranberry farmer with a November crop, wanted to expand her family’s farm business into the rest of the year by raising blueberries. She searched out the best wild blueberries bushes in the area looking for the biggest berries. She and botanist Frederick V. Coville then cross-pollinated thousands of cuttings and developed the first cultivated blueberry bushes, beginning what is now a billion-dollar industry in New Jersey.

In 2003, Proud New Jersey fourth graders from Veteran’s Memorial Elementary School in Brick, NJ, lobbied the New Jersey Legislature to proclaim these little blue dynamos to be the official state fruit. Their bid was successful, and the Legislature recognized the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) as one of the state’s claims to fame and fortune.

Of course, other states put out their claims for blueberries, too. The wild blueberry is the official state fruit of Maine, and several towns in Maine squabble over being the blueberry capital. Maine produces 25% of all the lowbush blueberries in North America. Lowbush blueberry plants are about one-foot tall, whereas highbush blueberry plants are between four and thirteen-feet tall. The bushes in our local fields have a good picking height of about five to six feet.

Wild blueberries. Lowbush blueberries. Highbush blueberries. All technicalities! Let’s just say that with Atlantic County producing more than 42 million pounds of blueberries, we have earned our bragging rights!

Blueberries are very versatile. You can eat them at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack. You can use them in drinks, sauces, soups, salads, breads, entrees, vinegars, desserts, and wines. Here are some of my favorite ways to use them.

Multigrain Cheerios with blueberries and banana

Whole wheat waffles with blueberries, peaches, and syrup

Deep Dish Blueberry Crisp

Easy-Peasey Blueberry Tart

Want to try making the Blueberry Crisp or the Easy-Peasey Blueberry Tart? Here are the recipes.

Deep Dish Blueberry Crisp

5 cups Jersey Fresh blueberries (you can also use frozen blueberries)

lemon zest from half of one small lemon

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar (use more if your berries are tart)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Crisp Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup oatmeal (or two oatmeal cereal packets-any variety)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

6 tbsp butter cut in pieces (or Smart Balance Margarine)

Prepare the blueberries by washing gently and removing any remaining stems. (If you use frozen blueberries, let them partially thaw first.)

Wow! Those are some big blueberries! I looove blueberries and have planted over 20 in my yard – different varieties and producing at different times in the season. We also make an annual trek to a nearby organic blueberry farm to add to the coffers. Your recipe sounds tasty – will have to give it a try.🙂

HI Tami. Good luck with your blueberries. They can be finicky. I am looking at visiting some organic blueberry farms, too. I admire the organic BB farmers. They have a hard job. All the insects that would normally be at the regular BB fields find their way to the organic fields. Not fair! There are only four certified organic BB farms in NJ. One of them is in nearby Hammonton-Big Buck Farms has 120 acres of organic blueberries. You can buy their berries at Trader Joe’s.
Which BB farm do you go to?

Hey Michael, Nice to hear from you. These are delicious berries. I wish I could share some with you. We have only a few more weeks to BB season, so I plan to buy a couple of crates (12 pints each) to freeze. I want to make tarts this winter. Take care.

As I read this I’m realizing that here in France I haven’t noticed any blueberries at the market. Raspberries and strawberries galore, plus other berries special to the region I can’t name. Why no blueberries? The French don’t know what their missing if they’re not into blueberries.

Yum! I’m still waiting for the blueberries to start turning up in the farmer’s market. The farmers bring them in from West Virginia. It’s such a shame the season is so short. I love all the summer fruit!

We get them in late June, early July. They are my favorite summer fruit, so I am almost counting the days to they come on the market. We have a blueberry farm just a half-mile away, so we watch for their signs, then load up both to eat fresh and to freeze.